Student Archive

The project was to find out more about a rare instrument called the zanfona. This instrument originated in Spain, even though it has made its way across Europe under different names, and presently remains rare. I could not find much information here in the United States, so with the help of the UROP grant, I was able to travel to Spain during the summer of 2001 and research its history and present cultural status. It is an instrument that can come in the forms of the lute, guitar, or violin, and which also uses the mechanism of the hurdy-gurdy. The zanforna produces a distinct but beautiful sonority that has been heard for over 600 years.

My creative pieces This is not a Woman I, This is not a Woman II, and my Untitled photographic images center on a concern for the social conscious, an essential part of the art-making process. By synthesizing feminist theories and earlier feminist artworks, my work attempts to challenge the prevailing misogynistic and phallocentric notions within American culture. By using the physical body as a metaphor, my work aims to expose the social oppression of women and encourage female empowerment. Creating a new celebratory mode of symbolism is an attempt to spur a new social consciousness and break away from the socially constructed idea of "femininity."

Haplochromis nubilus is a mouthbrooding cichlid species endemic to Lake Victoria, and other lakes in East Africa. Mouthbrooding, one of the most advanced parental care systems among fishes, entails extensive parental care by the female. This unique parental behavior of African cichlids is made more complex by the presence of a parasitic catfish, Synodontis multipunctatus. This Cuckoo catfish species uses mouth brooding cichlids as hosts for the catfish young. The Cuckoo catfish spawn at the same time as the cichlids, laying and fertilizing their eggs for the female cichlid to pick up, while eating some of the cichlid eggs.

Several studies have been conducted with respect to cichlid reproductive behavior and response to Synodontis multipunctatus presence. Not many studies have been conducted, and thus not much is understood about the reproductive cycles and behavior of Synodontis mutipunctatus. The exact way in which the Cuckoo catfish is able to spawn at the same time as the cichlid hosts is unclear. Evidence from preliminary studies suggests that a combination of pheromone and visual cues induce the reproductive behavior in Synodontis mutipunctatus. With the study I am conducting Ihope to validify these beliefs, and also to achieve a more clear understanding of how the breeding synchrony between Haplochromis nubilus and Synodontis multipunctatus is achieved. The study is being completed with the use of pre-developed methods of video data collection, and behavioral analysis. As this project is a subset of Dr. Cruz's continuing research with the Cuckoo catfish, it is helping to examine the relationship between brood parasites and host cichlid species. This study should elucidate some of the mysteries of Cuckoo catfish parasitism.